conceptdiba

Cheers, I'm going to have to try this. I did something similar with shoemaking; not sure why I didnt think to apply it here! I agree on skiving. However, I made the mistake of running my veg-tan stiffeners all the way to the edge of the seam, rather than trimming them 1/4" shorter so they wouldn't be a part of the actual seam. In the future, I'll just skive the calf modestly and leave the stiffening layers out of the actual seam.

Hi folks. I figured I'd post this one up. It's black french calf with red french suede lining and Lampo zippers .Completely saddle-stitched by hand. I'm fairly happy with it. In the future, I'm going to skive down the edges more. As is, the seams are too thick, which is causing the zippered area to 'bulge' upwards too much for my liking... Feedback?

I have a sample from LCI in black that works very well. I also received samples of the Italian edge paints from Campbell-Randall, but compared to the LCI, I find they take way more coats to get the edge I like, and are much lower in viscosity than the LCI edge ink.

Thanks guys. I guess I'll buy it asap!

Came across this; hoping someone can identify the type of leather on this vintage item. It's from a company that went out of business in the 70's, in Africa. It looks like it may be elephant but I'd like some more experienced members to comment...

Haven't been on here in a while; pure chance I came across this post! I have a supplier for this. amelia.corey@charter.net is her email. She's a representative based in Connecticut for a french tannery. Very expensive, full hides only in black or brown (both in stock) and it's over $11/ft, so you're looking at a few hundred dollars per skin. She will send you samples. "Vocalou" is what you probably want. Very glossy finish french calf. This is the stuff Hermes uses. You honesty probably wont find nicer french calf, I think.Tell her Andrew sent you edit: I might add, she isn't a wholesaler, she's a tannery rep. The expensive price isn't due to a markup.

ring lizard exterior; peanut aniline kangaroo interior; bone completely hand-stitched

Could you please recommend one for me? I use leather glues a LOT. I really should be more proactive and get some sort of respiratory protection, but I'm not really sure what it is I should get exactly.

Yes. Think of it like a "tip of the iceberg" kind of thing. The half inch or whatever amount of card slot showing will continue down a few inches under the next slot. I stitch it at the bottom of the slot. I'm also trying out cementing to save time, since it is quite time consuming having to re-thread and sew each slot. I'll have to see how that holds up durability wise. If you're using thick leather like the photo you posted, you may very well need to skive down any area that is overlapped. If you use very thin leather you won't run into that problem to the same degree.

Okay, my impressions on the tool so far. I purchased the unit, and two attachments. The first attachment is used to mark a line down the edge of the leather. My plan was to have this line run between the stitching and the edge for a nice finishing touch. The second attachment is used to melt wax onto the edge of the leather for a good edge. I don't have the two brass attachment's Andrew Chee posted in his 3rd picture a few posts up. My experience with the first attachment honestly has been okay. It's quite difficult to do corners well due to the length of the tool's handle, and I'm finding the line to be a bit too heavy/wide for my liking when doing fine leather goods. Please take that all with a grain of salt, as I still have to 1) hone my skills with this attachment and 2) try fiddling with the heat settings to see what is ideal for this attachment. So far, I've found this tool useful when I do a folded edge, like on a card slot, and opt to do a decorative line with this attachment rather than stitches. My experience with the second attachment has been excellent. I'm currently waiting on burnishable edge paint/wax samples from Campbell-Randall, but in the meantime I've been using some black edge-paint I received from LCI a while back. I typically work with very thin leathers of multiple layers (Ie wallet inner, card slots, then outer, each individual layer being very thin). I'll use glue to get the layers to stack and align, then sand the edge using a lower grit sandpaper like 200 grit. At this point I apply a layer of edge paint using a very small flathead screwdriver (this works very well to prevent excess wax from sticking to something like a wool dauber or q-tip and going over the edge of the leather). After applying the paint, I run the attachment on heat setting 3 up and down. Then I do a quick sanding to remove excess edge paint (I believe once I find the right edge paint/wax this won't be as much of a problem) before applying another coat and repeating with the attachment. Another coat is added as necessary until there are no discernible 'layers' when looking at the edge; just uniformly smooth edge is visible. I finish off by rubbing the edge with beeswax or similar and burnishing by hand with a small piece of crocus cloth to give it a nice shine and finish. I still need a bit of practice with this tool, but here's the kind of edge I got on a combination of about 5 mixed layers of chrome and veg-tanned leather using the above method. In reality, I'd probably skive all the layers down so the edge wouldn't be so bulky, but I think it demonstrates this tool's effectiveness. Overall, I'm very happy with this tool. The edge attachment is exactly what I've been looking for at a fraction of the price of other available tools. I'll post an update once I've tried out the different edge paints from Campbell-Randall.

I've received my machine too and will post my impressions tomorrow. CustomDoug, the shaft does indeed get very hot. The setting goes from 1 to 10, and even on setting 3 the shaft is very hot.

Like Denise said, have the stuff shipped by USPS. UPS, fedex, etc are going to ding you on brokerage fees. You won't be charged more than an $8 handling fee

I can shed some light on this. I imported a couple hundred kilos of vegetable tanned bovine leather from Italy, and there was NO duty on it. There used to be, but this is not the case anymore. From what I remember, the states is the same. No duty. You will pay tax like HST in BC. If you're a business, just GST, which you can write off as an expense, of course.

be careful... I needed a pricking iron that made a mark exactly every 1/8", and the #8 vergez-blanchard from Siegel was off by a tiny fraction of an inch. I ended up buying a Joseph Dixon model instead and it works great.

I think this may be incorrect. Some of those images are straight from the catalogue Mando.fr sent me. Also, this thread was made by Peter Nitz himself (look at the maker's stamp) and it mentions Mando to be the company that makes the machine in question. I'm just waiting on a response from Campbell-Randall to see what they come up with. If nothing pans out, I'll probably just buy the one from Mando...

I called him this afternoon and forwarded the .PDF from Mando to him as well. Hopefully that will help give him an idea of exactly what it is we have in mind. I'll see how it plays out, since between shipping, power supply, and long-term service, we're looking at a couple hundred bucks just for that.

Just heard back from them... 495 euro for the 2-handle model 189 euro for the 1-handle model 35 euro for each cork handle ~75 euro each for the edging and wax-melting attachments + freight. I think the 1-handle model is much better value, really... I don't see why it would be difficult to just swap out your attachments. To be honest, I see myself using 3 attachments to make a wallet (one edging line to mark where my stitches will go, one to melt the wax onto the edges, and another one a mm from the edge to give a nice looking line between the edge and the stitches), so no matter which machine I use I'll have to change attachments. It appears the 1-handle model is 0v-16v vs the 0v-20v of the 2-handle model. Any idea what this would change in terms of usefulness? I asked about the attachment for "burning the edge of the leather" and they said not to bother because it's unnecessary...haha. so a 1-handle model plus a cork handle and 3 attachments would run about $600 + shipping. Seems like they make some very high quality tools...I might have to go for it. funnily enough, I came across this thread from a few years ago, and it would appear the gentleman in the video I posted was a member on here and made that thread (notice the maker's stamp). He mentions paying around $600 for the machine and a few attachments and as the video shows, it's the double-handle model. Weird the price would have doubled in just a few years :s Maybe he upgraded to the more expensive model?

I've asked for a quote for the double-apparatus machine, a wooden stand for the handles (like the one shown in the video), two cork handles, 2 edge-creasing attachments, and wax-spatula attachment. I'll let you know when I hear back.

Thanks for the info, Art. Most of this stuff goes right over my head! I received a catalogue in English from them, and here's the info on the power unit: The double-apparatus unit (like the one shown in the video) has the following info listed: 230 V – 240 V 50/60 Hz 190 W. Does that help narrow it down for you? Thanks for your help with this. I wouldn't know where to start otherwise!

I've already attempted to email Mando about ordering. I am definitely needing clarification on the attachments/tips. Seems like there's even one specifically for using with croc, based on the description. Very confusing. Do you think a simple adapter would suffice, regarding the power supply concerns? I believe the specific adapter would be a 220 to 110 step-down adapter...

Nice!! This site is very hard to navigate... thankfully in Canada, there's always someone around who speaks french, so I'll see if I can figure out which machine/attachments I need. Thanks for posting

awesome!! I love these old mail bags. They're one of the first bag designs I tried out when I started learning. I'd love to make a replica at some point if I can find the pattern. Might have to check out ebay....

thanks! I'll be posting some other jackets and things real soon. I don't have the pattern with me now (my patternmaker is making a few small adjustments to it) but unfortunately it's not something I can share at the moment, as I'll be launching this jacket in the next month or so as part of my fall/winter collection, and it would probably be unwise of me to give out my pattern during this time. Really glad you like it though

This is exactly what I'm talking about. This is a complete insult and slap in the face to any master craftsmen. I could see an inexperienced, eager leatherworker selling wallets like those (as I unwisely did when I first started), but a company around since 1999 should know better.

I took a quick browse through the link (I've seen Billy Kirk goods before, though. Nice designs.), and I honestly can't get behind their concepts on wallets. The machine stitched stuff looks great and I'd buy any of it it a second, but it looks like they cut as many corners as possible on the true 'craftsmen' type stuff (the wallets with hand-stitching). Using this wallet as an example: it's a small wallet but with a low stitch count. The holes are clearly made by a punch instead of an awl, and the edges are visibly unfinished. I normally just hold my tongue in this sort of situation, since people are free to make or buy whatever they like, but when terms like 'true craftsmen', 'artisans', 'time-honored techniques", or "handmade" are used, I feel like I have to speak up so that the meaning of them isn't diluted, and consumers and fellow craftsmen know that there's a certain amount of skill needed to use these terms. When I learned true hand-made shoemaking in Budapest, I didn't have this opinion when I walked in, but by the time I left a month later, I really sympathised with my teachers views on this subject, and I always speak up about it when I see anyone tossing these terms around.